 Rafa Nadal vs. Taylor Fritz is the men's final at Indian Wells for 2022 and both players have had difficult roads to get to the final stage. Fritz entered the tournament as the 20th seed and got a buy in the first round. His second-round opponent was the Polish player Matrizak and this was no problem for Fritz winning in straight sets 6-1, 6-1. His third round was against surprise qualifier Munaire and this was an absolute battle. After winning the first set he lost the second but eventually prevailed in a tie break in the third 6-4, 2-6, 7-6. In the fourth round he took on the 29th seed Diminor and again had to play a tie break in the third set eventually prevailing 3-6, 6-4, 7-6. In his quarter-final he took on the unseeded Ketchmenovic and after taking out a close first set he dropped the second but eventually prevailed on 3-7-6, 3-6, 6-1. In the semi-finals Fritz would take on the number 7 seed Rublev who was coming in on a win streak and after a close first set Fritz held his nerve towards the end eventually getting through in straight 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the final. Raffner dialed into the tournament as the number 4 seed and on a 15 match win streak and got a buy in the first round. His second round opponent was Seb Corder the American and after taking the first set he was forced to play 3 and would have to fight in the third set to come back from 5-2 down but he eventually prevailed 6-2, 1-6, 7-6. His third round opponent was the 27th seed Dan Evans and after a close first set where Evans had the lead it was Raffner to come back again winning in straight sets 7-5, 6-3. In his fourth round match he take on the big serving American Riley Opelka the number 17 seed and as you'd guess Opelka playing a couple of tie breaks but Raffner getting the best of him winning both the tie breaks 7-6, 7-6. His quarter final meeting was against the wild card Nick Kirios who he'd had some epic clashes with in the past and this was no exception this match lived up to the hype with all the drama you expect from a Kirios Nadal matchup but it was Raffer who got the win in the end 7-6, 5-7, 6-4. In the semi-finals Raffer would take on his protege and the number 19 seed Elkerez who had just beaten Nori the defending champion in the quarterfinals and after the first set the win kicked up and really wreaked havoc and just like his quarterfinal he would have to fight in the third eventually getting through in 3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. Now these two have only played the one time before that was at Acapulco in 2020 just before COVID hit and Raffer got the easy win in that match but Fritz has come a long way in the last two years and his mentality was really strong against Rubelev especially under pressure. If Fritz is going to win he has to serve well that was the biggest thing that worked for him in his semi-final match against Rubelev he served well and he also kept his cool and he needs to do the same against Raffer he can't let Raffer get to him if Raffer is going to win he just needs to do what he does usually. If the weather is a little bit dicey though it could be tough for Raffer but he just needs to make sure that he puts his shots into the court and maybe frustrates Fritz which will help him because Fritz will give him some free points. This is going to be an interesting one for me because Fritz is coming in with an apparent ankle injury and Raffer had medical treatment during his match against Elkerez so both guys are going to be a bit wounded but I'm going to go with Raffer in straight sets. I think Fritz is going to make it interesting though I think maybe a tie break in the first or second sets but I've got Raffer in straight sets to make it 21-0 going into the clay season but let me know down in the comments below who do you think is going to win this match?